America Needs an SEC Chairman Protecting Main Street Not Wall Street

For Immediate Release

America Needs an SEC Chairman Protecting Main Street Not Wall Street

WASHINGTON - Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued this statement following the announced nomination of Jay Clayton to Chair the Securities and Exchange Commission:

“While Mr. Clayton may be an excellent lawyer representing Goldman Sachs and Wall Street’s too-big-to-fail banks, America’s families need to know that he will represent them as zealously and as effectively. He must lead without fear or favor and he must not bring the failed mindset that “what’s good for Wall Street is good for America,” which the 2008 financial crash proved catastrophically wrong. He must believe that what’s good for Main Street is good for America, which happens to also be good for Wall Street, as proved from 1940 until 2008.

“The SEC is supposed to be the cop on the Wall Street beat. When it fails to do its job, the American people pay the price in lost homes, jobs, savings and so much more. We saw that when the SEC de-regulated Wall Street before the 2008 financial crash and failed to enforce the law afterwards.

“These issues need to be the focus of the Senate confirmation process.”

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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets also works to restore layers of protection between hardworking Americans on Main Street and Wall Street’s riskiest activities. We work with allies – including many in finance – to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. While often referred to as a “Wall Street watchdog,” Better Markets is also a government watchdog, calling attention to those who fail to serve the public, including regulators and prosecutors who fail to enforce the law on Wall Street.

Further

Surrounded by a massive police presence, the country's top law enforcement official told a group of carefully screened students at Georgetown's Law School that, "In this great land, the government does not tell you what to think or what to say." In his speech, only announced the day before, Sessions went on to denounce uppity knee-taking football players and defend his boss' call, hours before, for them to be fired. We may need to upgrade the ole Irony Alert buzzer. It can't keep up.